Manufacture of shoes



Jan. 7, 1930. GODDU 1,742,501

MANUFACTURE OF SHOES Original Filed July 3, 1924 l atented Jan. 7,

UNETED STATES PATENT op-me GEORGE GODDU, OF WINCHESTER, ,MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIGNOR TO THE LITTLEWAY PROCESS COMPANY, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ACORPORATION OF MASSAGHU- SETTS MANUFAcTiIRn F snons Application filedJuly 3, 1924, serial This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes,and in some of its important aspects has more particular reference tothe manufacture of shoes of that type having an insole and an outsoleand in whichthe outsole is secured directly to the margin of the upperoverlying the insole by suitable means, as by through: and-throughstitches penetrating, at least, at the time of their insertion, to theinside of the shoe. Ina co-pending application Serial No. 721,007,1i1edon June 19, 1924;, I disclosed and claimed a novel method of makingshoesof this typeihavingfor an object to effect economies inthe-production of such shoes and, at the same time to provide shoes of,superior quality by dispensing with side lasting tacks either aspermanent parts of the shoes or as temporary fastenings;' In accordancewith the procedure illustrated and describedin that application, theinsole was provided with a lip on its outer oi bottom face; either; bychanneling it or by securing to it a piece of material such as canvastape, andin the progressive'lasting of the sides of the shoe the upperwas fastened to the lip by fine wire staples. 'Iheshoecould thus be madewith-Q out the extraoperations involvedin the use of temporary lastingtacks andwithout the" delay required in waiting for the. upperto' set inlasted shape whensuch tacksi are used. The shoe, moreover, was ofsnperio qaality, since the upper was secured permanently; its originallasted condition to the insole hy' fastenings of such a character and soapplied as not to penetrate to theinner' face of the; insole nor todetract appreciably from the flexibility ofthesh oe; p

The present invention, in one important aspect, 'has in view stillfurtherec onomies and improvements in the manufacture} of shoes of theahove-mentioned type. It lis sometimes desired, for I purposes ofeconomy or in order to providea more fleizible fshomi to use an jinso'lewhichisso thfin of offsuchi quality thatit cannot be provided with a'channel lipwhi ch will successfully withstand the strain of the upper ifthe upper is'iffa'sten'ed to it in the'las'ting of the shoe. fLikQJViSQjf r the sake of economyor for other reasons, may not bedesired'toattach a tape to the in- No. 724,125. Renewed :iui 5, i929.

vides for anchoring'th-em by directing them in curved paths withinthe-substance ofthe insole, In accordance: with the procedure hereinilhi'st'ratedthe fastenings are curved insucli manner that their pointsare directed reversely, toward the outer or bottom face ofthe insolewithont penetration. of its inner net. The article ottheifasteningis'thus iiisert,-, 1 my: 0 m l st 11 52 tem t e e; r b tt m a e;qt hein lesinee iii either e; e n i i ly em dded infi fcbv d y the shoe bottommaterials after the outsole hasheen applied.

wnr nanyoflitsaspects antenna is not limited astothe character ofthefast-en lngs ut'lize'cl', it is' considered preferable to" use fine wre staples, since iasteningsof that character] have been found amplyeffective for holding the upper-i i lasted position and" at the sametime do not d tract appreciably from the flexibility of the shoe nor areotherwise objectionable as permanent parts of the shoe'.- a a H me eifiventid isillustrated and def ribedw h 'part i le ref e to hemenufacture of shoes of thetypehereinbefore mentioned, "it isconsideredthat in Various s ects,t iiii v ht e maybe ufi li edtbad.

v tage intheinaniifactdr of shoes gr a tim kinds nd the m .its'q i ccrd-.- inglyjqsedin many of the claimsin ageneric se se to designate thatpart to which the upper is fastened in lasting; whether it be, theinsole ofsome kinds of shoes or in other kinds of shoes the singlesoleor the outsole."

The invention will now he more particu larly set forth hy reference tothe accornpanying drawings and thereafter pointed out in the claims. Forconvenience the drawings illustrate the practice of the method by theaid of operating instrumentalities which form part of a machineorganization fully shown and described in my co-pending applicationSerial No. 724,136 filed on J uly 3, 1924, although it is to beunderstood that the invention is not dependent upon the use ofinstrumentalities of the particular character herein shown. I

In the drawings- Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 illustrate different steps of themethod;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the side of a shoe afterlasting;

. Fig. 6 isa cross-sectional view of a portion of the shoe after thefastening of the outsole to the insole, and

Fig. 7 illustrates more clearly on an enlarged scale the shape ofthe'staple in the shoe.

It will be understood that prior to the operations illustrated in Fig. 1theinsole a and the upper materials Z) are assembled on the last, and inaccordance with the usual practice the upperv may then be pulled over atthe toe and fastened by the pulling-over tacks. Thereafter the sides ofthe shoe are lasted by subjecting different portions of the uppermaterials along the sides to lasting strain and fastening them in lastedposition on the outer face of the insole. In practising the method bythe aid of the instruinentalities herein shown the upper is pulled by agripper 2, first heightwise of the last and then inwardly over theinsole, the shoe beingpositioned for these operations by the aid of asole rest t and anedge gage 6. Thereafter the upper, while heldyieldingly by the gr1pper, 1s pressed down upon the outer face of theinsole, as illustrated in Fig. 2,.by overlaying means comprising astaple guiding member 8 and a staple deflector 10 which are moved as aunit in a direction inclined to the plane of the insole to wrap theupper aboutthe edge of the insole under lasting strain and to lay aportion of its margin in parallel relation to the outer face of theinsole. l Vhile the upper is held under lasting strain, as hereinillustrated both by the gripper 2 and by the pressure of theoverlayingmeans, a staple 0 of fine wire is driven through a portion of the upperwhich is in the line of the lasting strain by a staple driver 12 movablema guldeway in the member 8. 'Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate successive stagesin the driving of the staple into the shoe materials. The stapleutilized has I substantially straight leg portions, as

shown in Fig. 2, and the driver 12 moves in a direction or line-atthesame angle to the plane of the lnsole asthe direction of the overlayingpressure applied by the members 8 and 10. The memberlO is in the pathofthe legs of the staple thus driven and is so shaped and arranged as toact upon different portions of the legs of the staple successivelybefore the different respective portions enter the shoe materials tobend or deflect them in a positively predetermined degree out of theline of drive in planes herein illustrated as substantiallyperpendicular to the cross-bar of the staple, in such manner as to causethe legs of the staple to enter the shoe materials in substantiallyperpendicular relation to the plane of the insole and then to takecurved paths in the materials. As herein shown the legs of the stapleare bent throughout substantially their entire lengths in arcs of suchradius that without penetrating to the inner face of the insole theirends are directed reversely toward its outer face, the legs formingsubstantially half circles in the shoe. In accordance with the practiceherein illustrated the legs of the staples are turned outwardly towardthe edge of the shoe bottom from the points where they enter the insole.

It will be understood that after these operations have been performed inone location, theshoe is moved along to a different locationand the samelasting operations are repeated. In this manner the sides of the shoearelasted progressively, the upper being fastened securelyandpermanently in lasted position by the staples without opportunity forit to relax between the upper pulling and the fastening operations. Itwill be observed that thestaples are driven into a portion of theinsole, herein termed the intact substance thereofwhich has not beenweakened by any channel or other incision nor forms a projection fromthe'body of the insole, and that secure anchorage for the legs of thestaples is thus afforded. By reason of the accurate predetermination ofthe curvature of the legs of the staples independently of resistance ofthesho'e materials, it is feasible to utilize a comparatively thin andflexible insole without penetration of the fastenin 's entirely throughthe insole.

' After the sides of the shoe have thus been lasted, the toe and heelends may be lasted in the usual manner, and thereafter the out sole disapplied and subjected to the usual sole laying pressure. If desired alsoa filler 6 may be inserted between the insole and the outsole, asillustrated. After the sole laying operation the last is removed and theoutsole is secured to the insole by through-and-through stitches flocated between the row of staples and the edge of the insole.

It will be appreciated that, among its different advantages,theinvention effects substantialleconomies in that-the operationsincidental to the provisionand use of a lip on the insole are dispensedwith, while at the same time the manner of fastening the upper to theinsole in shoes in which the upper, the insole and the outsole are inthe relation to one another hereinillustrated is such as to avoid thepresence of clinched metallic fastenings on the inner face of the insolein the locations of the side lasting tacks commonly used heretofore inshoes of that type] The fact, moreover, that the upper is fastened underlasting strain to the intact substance of the insole contributes to thesuperior quality of the shoe by reason of the additional insuranceafiorded against any obj ectionable relaxation or displacement of thetensioned upper prior to the outsole securing operation. A further veryadvantageous characteristic of the shoe is that the ends of the metallicfastenings are directed reversely toward the outsole, so that there isno danger in the wear of the shoe that the ends of these fastenings maywork up into the interior of the shoe.

The herein-disclosed novel method of fastening per se and the productthereof are claimed in a divisional application, Serial No. 291,881filed on July 11, 1928.

Having described the invention and set forth fully how the method may bepractised, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States 1s:

1. The method of making shoes which comprises subjecting an upper tolasting strain to shape it over a last and to position it in lastedrelation to a sole on the last, and while holding the upper under thelasting strain securing it initially yet permanently in lasted positionby inserting a fastening through the upper and the outer face of thesole in a direction transverse to the plane of the sole and anchoringthe fastening in the intact substance of the sole without penetratingthe inner face of the sole.

2. The method of making shoes which comprises pulling an uppersuccessively in different locations along the sides of a shoe and layingit inwardly over the margin of the sole in lasted position, and aftereach of the upper pulling and overlaying operations securing the portionof the upper which is under lasting strain to the sole by insertlng afastening through the upper and the plane bottom face of the sole intothe intact sub stance of the sole and anchoring the fastening in saidintact substance of the sole by directing it in a predetermined curvedpath before it arrives in position to penetrate the inner face of thesole.

3. The method of making shoes which comprises subjecting an upper tolasting strain to shape it over a last and to position it in lastedrelation to a sole on the last, and while holding the upper under thelasting strain fastening it initially yet permanently to the sole byinserting a fastening substantially in the line of strain through theupper and into the sole and anchoring the fastening by directing it in apredetermined curved path beforeiit arrives in position to emerge fromthe sole.

4. The method of makingrshoes" which comprises pulling differentportions .of an upper successively over aIlast andfastening 1 the upperto a sole on the .last in each location where. the pull is applied,beforepu'lling the upper in a different location, by inserting a finewire staplethrough a portion of the upper located substantially in theline of the pulling strain 'and into the sole and anchoring the staplein the-intact substance of the sole by directing its legs inpredetermined curved paths before they. arrivein position to emergefrom-the sole.

5. The method of making shoes :which comprises subjecting differentportions of an upper successively to lasting strain to shape the upperover a last and'to position it in lasted relation toa sole on thelast,.a:nd

while holding each of said portions of the upper under lastingstrainfastening it, be-

fore applying the strainin thenext lasting location, by inserting astaple through the upper and into thesole in a di-rectiontrans "verse totheplane of the sole and anchoring by curving its legs in the intactsubstance of the sole to direct their ends reversely: toward the outer*face' of the :sole without penetrating-its inner face. l

7. The method of making shoes which comprises subjecting differentportions of an upper successively to lasting strain to shape the upperover a last and to position it in lasted relation to a sole on the last,and while holding each of said portions of the upper under lastingstrain fastening it initially yet permanently to the sole by inserting ametallic fastening through the upper and into the sole and anchoring thefastening by directing it in a path curved in predetermined degree fromthe point where it enters the sole.

8. The method of making shoes which comprises pulling an upper over alast and laying it inwardly over the outer face of a sole on the last bypressure applied in a direction inclined to the plane of the sole, andwhile holding'the upper by said pressure securing it to the sole bydriving a fastening in a direction also inclined to the plane of thesole and curving the fastening as it'is driven to anchor it within theintact substance of the sole Without penetrating the inner face of thesole.

' 9. The method of making shoes of a type having an insole and anoutsole, which 5 comprises subjecting the upper in difierent locationssuccessively along the sides of the shoe to lasting strain and securingit while under the lasting strain in each of said locations, beforesubjecting it to strain in another location, by'inserting a metallicfastening through the upper and the outer face of the insole andanchoring the fastening in the intact substance of the insole withoutpenetrating to the inner face of the insole, 5 and thereafter applyingthe outsole over the insole and securing it directly to the margin ofthe upper overlying the insole.

10. The method of making shoes of a type having an insole and anoutsole, which comprises subjecting the upper in different locationssuccessively along the sides of the shoe to lasting strain and securingit while under the lasting strain in each of said locations by insertinga staple through the upper and the outer face of the insole andanchoring the staple within the intact substance of the insole bycurving its legs substantially throughout their lengths in-such degreeas to direct their ends reverse-1y toward theouter face of the insole,and thereafter applying the outsole over the. insole and securing it tothe insole by through-andthrough stitches. I

11. That improvement in methods of 113 making shoes which consists inconforming an unlasted upper to the shape of a last and, while holdingit so conformed, initially yet permanently fastening it to a sole bymetallic fastenings anchored in the sole by de- 40 flection thereofeffected entirely at that side of the work wherethe fastenings enter it.In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification;

GEORGE GODDU.

